19 Healthy Snacks My Kids Will Actually Eat

Sometimes I think that when I’m at home I just feed them, clean up after feeding them and repeat all day til bedtime.

When I was off work on maternity leave we’d have lots of visitors so they’d enjoy biscuits from the tea tray or cake that the visitors brought, but I’ve really tried to cut out the empty sugar-filled food except as proper treats.

We’re trying to change our snacking, with food that’s still appealing to them but that doesn’t use up their treat ration.

Here’s what they love to snack on (if no biscuits or junk are on offer, obviously).

1. Apple slices and peanut butter

Apples taste nicer sliced, fact. One child will dip it in the peanut butter the others will just take the slices from the chopping board as quickly as I can slice them. I prefer almond butter myself.

I find that Shreddies or Cheerios work well, cornflakes and Rice Krispies are just too tiny for them to hold. Coco Pops are not healthy, ever. Sorry kids.

6. Tortilla pizzas

For very hungry days – take one tortilla wrap, spread with red pesto and add whatever pizza toppings you like (usually cheese and ham here), toast under hot grill and slice like pizza. Tadaah, pizza !

7. Breadsticks and pesto

My small girl will dip til the cows come home and if I’m late getting dinner ready I’ll often give them breadsticks and pesto to keep them going.

8. Cream cheese and breadstick dippers

Vary it by stirring red or green pesto into the cream cheese, very popular here.

9. Overnight oats

This tastes like dessert but is so healthy, the kids consider it a treat which is fanstastic. To make it add equal quantities of porridge, plain yogurt and milk (almond milk is gorgeous in it), leave it in the fridge for a few hours or overnight, add berries and then gobble it.

10. Banana Oat Cookies (Chocolate Chip)

We make these most weeks using Derval O’Rourke’s recipe, they are hugely popular and have no nasties in them at all. Recipe HERE.

11. Cheese and crackers

Old school but tasty.

12. Carrot sticks and hummus

Or breadsticks or pretzel sticks or with no hummus. One child loves this, another licks the hummus off the carrots, the third will not indulge.

13. Jam rollies

Don’t tut at the jam we use the Folláin no added sugar one. Some days we even use white bread, mad yokes. To make them cut the crusts off a slice of bread (they roll better with no crusts), spread jam on it, roll it up. It’ll look like a mini-swiss roll. Repeat til the kids stop asking for more. If you are super organised save the crusts and make breadcrumbs for stuffing, although I tend to just eat them myself.

14. Fruit Kebabs

Obviously fruit will feature in this list. I often chop fruit and leave the chopping board on the table with cocktail sticks and they make their own fruit kebabs, which works well with grapes, blueberries and pineapple. This works better in winter when the fruit flies and wasps are less evident.

15. Nuts and Dried Fruit

They love trail mix but mixed almonds and raisins also disappear easily, just watch the raisins are they are so high in sugar.

16. Popcorn

The smell draws them into the kitchen, just keep an eye on the smallies as it is a choking hazard.

17. Fruit and Yogurt Cups

They like fruit, they like yogurt, I let them choose from the chopped fruit platter which fruit they want and add some natural or vanilla yogurt, so much tastier than a teeny fromage frais.

18. Pick and Mix Snack Platter

This is a child’s version of tapas, sort of. I leave a chopping board on the table with a variety of things that I know they will eat, crackers, breadsticks, pieces of wraps, strips of ham, cubes of cheese, maybe some chopped cucumber or peppers, a small amount of hummus or pesto and I let them help themselves. They often like to make faces from the snacks they’ve invented.

19. Soup in a Mug

I usually make soup on a Sunday night that gets us to about Wednesday when I often end up making more soup. When the kids ask for a snack I give them half a mug of soup and a spoon. Even the broccoli one went down well this week.
See, 19 snacks that are healthier than chocolate biscuits. So you can have all the chocolate biscuits for yourself.

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Welcome to Bumbles of Rice. I'm Sinéad, a mum of three from Wexford, Ireland. You can read all about me in the ABOUT section. I've been sharing recipes, tips and the ups and downs of parenting here since 2012. Expect humour and from the heart pieces, travel and recipes, with lots of keeping it real. You might relate. You might laugh. Click around and see what you think. If you'd like to work with me email me bumblesofrice@gmail.com